IndieFund.It

The ProblemSeeking the support of the invisible internet crowd is challenging - according to Jakob Nielsen (http://www.nngroup.com/articles/participation-inequality/), in “most online communities, 90% of users are lurkers who never contribute, 9% of users contribute a little and 1% of users account for almost all of the action.” What does this mean for crowdfunding? It means that no matter how many members of the crowd there are, almost none of them will participate in what is going on. So, then what? The follow-on to that fact is that your 1% better be big enough to get you through your campaign. So, how do we make that happen?

The SolutionThe beginning and end of the solution to this problem is to change the size of the crowd. Campaigning for donations, campaigning for investment, campaigning to find an angel/VC investor and campaigning to find a bank - every single one of these activities share one thing in common - the larger your crowd of listeners, the more likely it is that you will achieve your goal. This doesn’t mean that nothing else matters - but this is definitely the single largest factor that you can control and that can make all the difference. Take a look at the list that follows and see what else you can do to change the outcomes.

Are You Ready?Plan

1. Did you write down your personal networks?

2. Do you know who the influencers are in your network?

3. Have you asked the influencers to be your champions?

4. Do you know your elevator pitch?

5. Did you write your storyboard down?

6. Did you organize your story for text, photograph, video and audio consumers?

7. Did you do your budget?

8. Did you capture your story including your personal appeal?

9. Have you taken enough time to organize?

10. Did you create your campaign plan?

11. Do you have your editorial schedule worked out?

12. Did you organize your communications & PR?

Pre-launch

1. Did you organize your champions?

2. Did you pre-sell your campaign?

3. Have you conducted your soft-launch?

4. Have you validated your communications & approach with your soft launch?

Before You Crowdfund: Assess Your Readiness!